Helpful Score: 13
DARCY'S STORY is the Jane Austen's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE retold from the point of view of its hero, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Its style is much the same as the original, however, I found author Janet Aylmer's voice less able to wrap itself around the intracacies of 18th century verbosity than the story's original author. This was not unexpected, given our language's present tendency to speak in sound bites. Overall I found the novel a refreshing take on a story I have loved for some time.
Helpful Score: 9
Terrible retelling of Pride and Prejudice - the worst of the dozens that have been written. The author basically paraphrases the original novel, without adding much of anything new or enlightening in regard to Darcy's perspective.
Helpful Score: 9
Not sure I liked this. Writing a bit stilted. Too much of Austen's dialogue repeated to make this book truly original. I was really hoping Aylmer would delve much more into Darcy's thought process and give some new insights. A couple of new scenes; that did redeem it for me somewhat. I'd like to read more take offs on P&P to see how those books fare.
Helpful Score: 9
I can't seem to stay away from these books that are based on and continuing the story of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen! I really like this one, however, as it is faithful to the story and the characters. It is merely a retelling of the original story except through the eyes of Mr. Darcy. It uses many, many conversations and word-for-word descriptions from the original (I'm not sure I cared for that much, but I understand the author's attempts to maintain the integrity of the story) and adds in Darcy's thoughts and feelings which are pretty much a mystery to the reader in P & P. There are added sections which of course detail where Darcy was, who he was with, and what he was thinking in the the long absences from the company of Elizabeth Bennett. In general, it isn't a creative book much, but it is enjoyable and a very quick read!
Helpful Score: 7
I enjoyed reliving P&P from Darcy's perspective, yet it was basically just a paraphrased version. It was like reading the book twice, which is not so bad since the original is so outstanding. I would not recommend it, although, to someone who has just finished the original version, i.e. me. :)
Helpful Score: 4
For Austen fanatics it's worth the read. I thought the Aiken series was better, but I still liked this book.
Helpful Score: 2
I love, love, love Pride and Prejudice, and to be able to see everything from Darcy's point of view just made it better. Of course, in the end of P&P you wind up loving Darcy anyway; but this book helps you to understand the struggles that he was going through and the reasons for his actions.
Helpful Score: 2
Good story, and interesting point of view. "Pride and Prejudice" is a much better stand-alone book and more compelling read. I did inspire me to re-read the original.
Helpful Score: 2
Well, it keeps consistent with the plot of Pride and Prejudice, but it lacks something. Almost every scene is exactly the same as Pride and Prejudice, at least the ones with Darcy in them, so I got the feeling that I was just rereading the original story and not seeing anything new - if you just finished the original Jane Austen work, I would not recommend picking this book up right away, it will feel like deja vu. The dialogue is pretty much cut and pasted from Jane Austen's work, and when it isn't it is summarized in detail. I understand that this author wanted to keep as close to the original as possible, but she made the book so safe it was boring. She filled all the "spaces" where Austen's dialogue didn't exist with mundane details of day to day life like how they travelled from London and what stops were made. Otherwise she described emotions with telling not showing. Things did not have the same feel as Austen's writing, which was really underlined when you saw her dialogue in this setting. Aylmer also repeated the same dialogue over and over as Darcy remembered conversations. Even his conversation with his aunt when she confronts him about an engagement to Elizabeth just has her repeating the conversation she has with Elizabeth line for line! In italics too!
I really wish this author tried to bring in more of her own imagination into the story instead of relying so much on the original. The only things new here were a couple of scenes where Darcy talks to Georgiana or his cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam. There is also a brief description of him discovering that Mr Wickham was secretly trying to get his sister's inheritance and quickly stopping it. Otherwise, the book is a quick OK read, but not memorable.
I really wish this author tried to bring in more of her own imagination into the story instead of relying so much on the original. The only things new here were a couple of scenes where Darcy talks to Georgiana or his cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam. There is also a brief description of him discovering that Mr Wickham was secretly trying to get his sister's inheritance and quickly stopping it. Otherwise, the book is a quick OK read, but not memorable.
Helpful Score: 1
I'm a Janeite who likes my Austen un-retouched. I don't need modern authors to create new adventures for Austen heroines, thank you very much. I selected Darcy's Story precisely because several of the reviewers complained that they didn't learn anything new from the book. That's precisely the point.
Darcy's Story does NOT change the story, and only creates a few new scenes. What it does is offer a new point-of-view from which to consider the actions of the Austen characters. I must admit that I, who thought I knew P&P backwards and forwards, learned new details from reading this book.
Darcy's Story suffers in that the conversations added by Aylmer use entirely different language -- much simpler words, much less thoughtful speech -- than those conversations taken from the original. But perhaps Aylmer did this on purpose -- it is, after all, very obvious which words are Austen's and which are hers, even to readers who do not know P&P almost verbatim.
Darcy's Story does NOT change the story, and only creates a few new scenes. What it does is offer a new point-of-view from which to consider the actions of the Austen characters. I must admit that I, who thought I knew P&P backwards and forwards, learned new details from reading this book.
Darcy's Story suffers in that the conversations added by Aylmer use entirely different language -- much simpler words, much less thoughtful speech -- than those conversations taken from the original. But perhaps Aylmer did this on purpose -- it is, after all, very obvious which words are Austen's and which are hers, even to readers who do not know P&P almost verbatim.
Helpful Score: 1
The beginning of this book was so slow I almost didn't finish. It seemed more of an explanation of things than any sort of plot or even narration. It did eventually get better, although I was never really drawn into the telling. There were too many passages of, "And then he did this, and then he did that." It was as though the author needed us to know a million little things, so she simply listed them out.
On the plus side, it was a quick read, and I liked seeing Darcy's side of things: why he had so little to say, his relationship with his little sister, and what he really thought of Bingley's sisters.
On the plus side, it was a quick read, and I liked seeing Darcy's side of things: why he had so little to say, his relationship with his little sister, and what he really thought of Bingley's sisters.
Helpful Score: 1
I found I could not delve into this book as much as I had hoped. The writing style is rushed and not at all like I had expected. I didn't mind the quotations from P&P as much, if only there had been more of the author's words in it as well. You don't really get a good picture of Darcy's thoughts and feelings, you just learn that first he goes here, then he talks to Bingley about this and every happens exactly as they had discussed. The story lacks an emotional connection with the reader. If Aylmer had taken more time with it and included more conversation and thoughts of Darcy, it would have been better. Not the best Jane Austen spin off I've read. I suppose having first read the "Fitzwilliam Darcy, A Gentlemen" series by Pamela Aiden, I was biased against this book. By far, Aiden's series is better. I was disappointed in this one.
Helpful Score: 1
This book pretty much takes huge chunks of the original "Pride & Prejudice" and slaps them onto its pages. There is very little original material in this work and Darcy's character was pretty two-dimensional. I'm glad I only paid $4 for it and then passed it on to a PBS member who hopefully enjoyed it more than I did. :-)
Helpful Score: 1
I enjoyed this book very much. Darcy's Story matched what I had imagined in my mind. I liked wth way the author tied the original story and dialog into this story and dialog. Highly recommended.
Helpful Score: 1
A fairly good story of Pride and Prejudice told from Darcy's view. If you are a real PP lover, I don't know if you would like this book, I didn't really like it.
Helpful Score: 1
Meh. It was okay I guess. I was really hoping too read more of Darcy's thought process and life instead of just reading paraphrases of the original novel. There wasn't really much new material, and didn't really go into Darcy's story or life. I'm not entirely sure I liked it.
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book - it's an interesting retelling of Pride and Prejudice from Darcy's perspective, filling in the blanks on his motive and thoughts about the events in Austen's story. It's believable and interesting!
What a great addition to those who loved Pride & Prejudice. This tells the story from Mr.Darcy's point of view. Fills in alot of little things that he does and why he does them. Loved it. Great read!
A horrible "alternate perspective" story that is really just Pride and Prejudice plagiarized, but edited down with a few extra sentences thrown in. Awful.
This book was great. The author stayed true to the original story while at the same time giving us Darcy's perspective on everything. I loved how she didn't try to overdo the concept, making Darcy all knowing. Things that happened to Elizabeth that Darcy didn't know about, stayed that way. It was a refreshing look at the greatest love story of all time.
NIce story follow through from Jane Austens Pride and Predjudice. I didnt much like the sexual inuendo's but thats what you get this day and age. But author didnt stay in the peramiters of Jane Austens days.
Aylmer's style of writing somewhat mimics that of Austen, and though the book was entertaining, no new insight into Darcy's character is exposed that could not have been conjectured based on one's having read Pride and Prejudice.
Having said this, I will say that enjoyed the book if only to read of Darcy and Elizabeth.
Having said this, I will say that enjoyed the book if only to read of Darcy and Elizabeth.
Some interesting details were added, but much was repeated from the original story.
I could not get through this so-called retelling of P&P. It was really just a paraphrased version. I felt like I might as well just reread P&P for the hundredth time instead, for it was just made me angry that it was so much blatant paraphrasing with one or two new sentences thrown in.
Charming retelling of "Pride and Prejudice" from the viewpoint of Mr. Darcy. Aylmer clearly knows - and loves - Jane Austen. If you've ever wondered what turned Darcy from a stiff snob to to the man Elizabeth Bennet loved, here is the answer.
A fluffy retelling of the Pride and Prejudice story.
A slog. I found I really didn't care about Mr. Darcy's side of the story. And this was only volume one.
It's ok, but not riveting. It's basically P&P from Darcy's point of view.
Pride and Prejudice told from a different point of view--Darcy's. Very simple writing.
This is a very good book. Even my friend who is a Jane Austin snobb said it was very authentic and stuck to the story very well. It just goes into Darcy's motives as was revealed in Pride and Predjudice.
Good book for those that like Pride & Prejudice!
"Mr. Darcy has alwyas remained an intriguing enigma-his thoughts, feelings, and motivations hidden behind a cold, impenetrable exterior...until now."
"Mr. Darcy has alwyas remained an intriguing enigma-his thoughts, feelings, and motivations hidden behind a cold, impenetrable exterior...until now."
Different twist on a familiar theme
I enjoyed this book so much. It was refreshing to read P&P from Darcy's point of view. I would reccomend this book to any Jane Austen fan. The author did a great job combining her ideas with those of Austen.
It was no Jane Austen...
I enjoyed reading Mr. Darcy's side of the story.
Book Description
When Elizabeth Bennet first met Mr. Darcy, she found him proud, distant, and rude-despite the other ladies' admiration of his estate in Derbyshire and ten thousand pounds a year. But what was Mr. Darcy thinking?
Jane Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice has long stood among the most beloved novels of all time. The story of Elizabeth Bennet's blossoming romance with "haughty, reserved, and fastidious" Fitzwilliam Darcy has enchanted readers for nearly two centuries. Yet, Mr. Darcy has always remained an intriguing enigma-his thoughts, feelings, and motivations hidden behind a cold, impenetrable exterior . . . until now.
With the utmost respect for Austen's original masterwork, author Janet Aylmer loving retells Pride and Prejudice from a bold new perspective: seeing events as they transpire through the eyes of Darcy himself. One of world's great love stories takes on breathtaking new life, and one of fiction's greatest romantic heroes becomes even more sympathetic, compelling, attractive, and accessible, all through the imagination and artistry of a truly gifted storyteller.
When Elizabeth Bennet first met Mr. Darcy, she found him proud, distant, and rude-despite the other ladies' admiration of his estate in Derbyshire and ten thousand pounds a year. But what was Mr. Darcy thinking?
Jane Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice has long stood among the most beloved novels of all time. The story of Elizabeth Bennet's blossoming romance with "haughty, reserved, and fastidious" Fitzwilliam Darcy has enchanted readers for nearly two centuries. Yet, Mr. Darcy has always remained an intriguing enigma-his thoughts, feelings, and motivations hidden behind a cold, impenetrable exterior . . . until now.
With the utmost respect for Austen's original masterwork, author Janet Aylmer loving retells Pride and Prejudice from a bold new perspective: seeing events as they transpire through the eyes of Darcy himself. One of world's great love stories takes on breathtaking new life, and one of fiction's greatest romantic heroes becomes even more sympathetic, compelling, attractive, and accessible, all through the imagination and artistry of a truly gifted storyteller.
Did not read
